Chicago casino settles lawsuit after being accused of barring White men from investing in the business
Bally's Chicago, which is projected to be Illinois' biggest casino with a 500-room hotel tower and 3,000-seat theater, was accused of excluding White males from its $250 million IPO as part of its Host Community Agreement with the City of Chicago.
The $1.7 billion casino and resort, set to open in 2026, faced a lawsuit launched by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of two White male investors and the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER).
The casino committed to 25% minority and women ownership as part of the community agreement, which was drafted as part of a 2019 Illinois state law expanding gambling in the state. In order to take part in the IPO, an investor would have had to meet its "Class A Qualification Criteria," which stated that an investor must be a "minority or woman."
Bally's accepted deposits from 1,500 investors starting in December, but wound up refunding them in February because the SEC had yet to approve of the IPO, the Chicago Sun Times reported. In April, the casino dropped the controversial provisions from the IPO, but stated they preferred investors to be from the Chicago area.
WILL, which represented investors Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff in their case, alleged that Bally's was in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which bars racial discrimination in contracts, the first Ku Klux Klan Act and years of Supreme Court precedent. The conservative legal group is now celebrating the settlement with the casino.
"This is a great win for equality. Bally's Casino in Chicago, the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois had all agreed that they were going to open a new casino in Chicago and only allow minorities and women to own 25% of the casino as part of an investment. And Bally has now dropped that requirement. They filed papers with the SEC stating that the investment will now be open to everybody. And we think that's a great win for equality and we're very happy with this result," WILL's managing vice president Dan Lennington told Fox News Digital.
Patrick Callahan, 39, a Chicago attorney who had been prevented from investing in the casino, was pleased with the settlement, but voiced a note of caution about the future of his city.
"Under current state and local leadership, it's hard to be too optimistic that Chicago will suddenly become a bastion of nondiscrimination. That being said, this is a big victory and I'm hoping to see many more of them," Callahan said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Bally's, the Chicago mayor's office and the Illinois Gaming Commission for comment.
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Shareholders may obtain a free copy of the preliminary proxy statement and other documents that the Company files with the SEC at the SEC's website at or on the Company's Investor Relations website at The Company will file with the SEC and distribute to its shareholders a definitive information statement, following SEC review. Completion of the proposed reverse stock split is subject to market and other customary conditions. There are no assurances that the reverse stock split will be completed, that it will result in an increased per share price or that it will achieve its other intended effects. The Board reserves the right to elect not to proceed with the split if it determines that implementing it is no longer in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Exited 38 Stocks, Including Palantir, but More Than Quintupled His Stake in This Trillion-Dollar Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
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Key Points XRP has benefitted from the Securities and Exchange Commission ending its longstanding lawsuit against Ripple, the company behind XRP. Investors are now looking ahead to other catalysts, like the launch of an XRP spot ETF in the U.S. There are other macro- and crypto-specific catalysts that could help XRP later this year and in 2026. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › It's been a strong run for several cryptocurrencies in 2025, few more so than XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), the third largest cryptocurrency in the world with a market cap of about $190 billion (as of July 28). XRP is known for its strong network, which is capable of processing up to 1,500 transactions per second, making it highly scalable and ideal for cross-border payments. Since settling a long-standing lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), XRP has taken off this year, up over 35% and much more since Donald Trump won the presidential election last year. While investors have likely grabbed the low-hanging fruit, there are other potential catalysts that could be bullish for XRP later this year. Here are three. 1. A spot XRP ETF Getting past the SEC lawsuit was a big deal for XRP for several reasons, and ending the regulatory uncertainty could pave the way for a spot-XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). Spot-crypto ETFs attempt to mirror the price of whichever cryptocurrency they are tracking by actually buying the cryptocurrencies themselves, and then assigning shares to a certain amount of that cryptocurrency. Spot-crypto ETFs have launched for other large cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and proven to be bullish, increasing liquidity and institutional interest. Most investors believe that spot-crypto ETFs are only a matter of time for some of the larger altcoins like XRP and could happen as soon as this year. As of this writing, Polymarket placed the odds of an XRP spot ETF getting approved in 2025 at 85%, lower than highs seen this year, but still a very good chance. The SEC has been a bit back and forth on approving spot crypto ETFs. On one hand, it seems more than open to the idea but is not rushing to approve them like other crypto initiatives. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas recently said on X: I think [the SEC] want[s] to put out their generic listing standards first [for spot-crypto ETFs], which is probably coming soon. Get comments. Implement. in time October due dates. That's my theory anyway. 2. Bitcoin continues to perform well The crypto sector has largely moved in unison, heavily influenced by Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has long been viewed as a bellwether for the industry. This year, however, Bitcoin has begun to break away from the pack, moving higher all year as many cryptocurrencies stalled or even declined. Many now view Bitcoin as a form of digital gold, which can hedge inflation and serve as important diversification as the U.S. government's finances continue to get more and more out of hand. As more regulation passes, more institutional investors are getting involved and starting to buy Bitcoin. The more Bitcoin is in the spotlight, the more interest there will be across the sector and in other cryptocurrencies, and the more likely it will become for institutional ownership. XRP is a logical place for investors to look because it's one of the largest cryptocurrencies and has a scalable network. Additionally, Ripple, the company behind XRP, is doing a lot of work with more traditional financial institutions, which in my view would make them more inclined to invest in XRP as opposed to another altcoin. 3. Falling interest rates Cryptocurrencies have typically performed well in a falling interest rate environment, namely because investors begin to take on more risk as bond yields come down, and cryptocurrencies have previously benefited in a similar way as tech stocks. Now, with the market hitting all-time highs, it's hard to say that we aren't currently in a risk-on environment. After all, the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates at the end of last year before going on pause, so technically one could argue that we are in a falling interest rate environment. However, bond yields are still somewhat high, still offering attractive yield, so if rates were to keep coming down, that could continue to benefit cryptocurrencies like XRP, so long as the Fed is not doing cuts because of a recession. Traders using futures to bet on the moves in the Fed's federal funds rate expect four interest rate cuts between now and the end of 2026. Should You Buy XRP? XRP is certainly one of a handful of cryptocurrencies that I find intriguing, with its strong network and ties to Ripple, which seems to be making inroads when it comes to bridging the gap between cryptocurrencies and institutional investors and mainstream finance. But there is still a lot of uncertainty in the broader economy and we don't know exactly where interest rates will go. Additionally, other cryptocurrencies run on strong technical networks that could challenge XRP. XRP has also been volatile in the past and cryptocurrency prices are very difficult to predict, so I would still keep positions smaller and more speculative for now. Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now? Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Bram Berkowitz has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Bullish Catalysts for XRP (Ripple) -- Should You Buy the Cryptocurrency Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
